NMLA and Lending

The National Marine Lenders Association is a trade association of boat lending specialists. Members include financial institutions such as commercial banks, private financing firms, savings and loan companies, credit unions and retail service companies. Members extend or originate credit to consumers, retailers/dealers and makers of recreational boats and equipment.

Boat loans are a bit easier, but housing issues (foreclosures, short sales, lack of equity) still dog industry With the 2008 fall from the proverbial economic cliff a full five years behind us, boat dealers and manufacturers might be hopeful that by next season more people will return to buying new boats because some short…more

CGI Finance announced a partnership and floorplan lending agreement with cruising catamaran builder Fountaine Pajot. The partnership provides exclusive global financing solutions to clients for the purchase of luxury catamarans and motoryachts and coincides with the recent launch of the Fountaine Pajot Motor Yachts brand, CGI announced. CGI and Fountaine Pajot will celebrate the partnership…more

GE Capital’s Commercial Distribution Finance business said Monday that it has seen positive trends in the Canadian marine, motorsports and recreational vehicle industries through the first half of the year. Even better, GE expects favorable conditions to continue into 2014. Commercial Distribution Finance found that dealers’ inventory orders were up in all three categories. Aging…more

GE Capital’s Commercial Distribution Finance business extended its financing relationship with the American Boatbuilders Association. GE Capital has been a lender to ABA members since the organization’s inception in 1992. “GE Capital has been far more than a lender to our members,” ABA president Jay Patton said in a statement. “Over the years, this relationship…more

The National Marine Bankers Association’s second-quarter survey found that all lender respondents — service companies and banks and finance companies — indicated that dollar volume was the same or up from the same period in 2012, surprising some lenders who had projected that volume might be lower. Only 16 percent of lender respondents to the…more

Loans are available in the $50,000 range, but a credit blemish can torpedo the sale of a larger boat The marine retail lending market has certainly leveled out since the financial meltdown of 2008, when it seemed to change on a daily basis. That’s welcome news to dealers, lenders and manufacturers, who are, by and…more

The National Marine Bankers Association said Tuesday that Pace Bradshaw, vice president of congressional affairs at the Consumer Bankers Association, will speak at the NMBA’s annual Marine Lending Industry Conference in September. Bradshaw is responsible for the Consumer Bankers Association’s advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill and working with Congress on issues important to the retail…more

Because so many National Marine Bankers Association members felt the brunt of Hurricane Sandy last October, the group plans to focus on disaster preparedness at its annual marine lending conference in September. The conference committee hired Norris L. Beren, executive director of Risk Reduction Education, to advise attendees about protecting their business in the event…more

National Marine Bankers Association survey results for the first quarter show that although new lenders are offering boat loans, loan amounts are at an 18-month low and credit requirements are more stringent than in 2012. Service companies reported that 64 percent of loan origination was signed with new banks or finance companies in the last…more

The National Marine Bankers Association has a new president for the first time in three years. New president Mike Bryant, who has been in boat lending since 1978 and is the co-founder of Trident Funding, has plans to grow the group. Membership has taken a hit post-recession, when the industry lost several lenders and several…more